1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for monitoring the amount of users watching given broadcasted content from the same media device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several systems for collecting information over media devices have been designed in the past. None of them, however, include a system that uses a camera to monitor how many users are watching content broadcast by a media device.
Applicant believes that a related reference corresponds to published U.S. patent application No. US 20100016011 filed on Jul. 15, 2008 by Motorola, Inc. for a method for collecting usage information on wireless devices for rating purposes.
Although the reference discloses of a method to gather information it differs from the present invention because it does not disclose of a system that uses a monitoring device to monitor and analyze the amount of users watching a media device in a given viewing venue. The Motorola reference teaches of a method that collects and records the channels the participant is watching and during what time intervals the channels are viewed. The software application subject of the Motorola reference then transmits the collected usage to the ratings server. The present invention provides a way to monitor and track the amount of users in a given space watching a program so that the system can charge per user watching the program.
The Motorola reference does not provide a solution to be able to determine how many individuals are watching a program, only how many media devices are tuned into a particular channel. However, multiple users may be watching the same media device and the Motorola reference does not teach of a method to determine how many individual users are watching the same program. Thus, rendering it unable to charge per viewer the way the present invention does. The present invention teaches of a system that employs a monitoring device, programmable databases, and a server to track the actual individual users watching the same program on the same media device.
Other documents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.